Work began this week on a four-year project to refurbish the Waitaki dam and power station, at a cost of $40 million.
Cleaning work on the power station's generators 1 and 2 began on Monday, and Meridian Energy spokeswoman Michelle Brooker said ''packages of work'' would be awarded through a tender process and work carried out in an overall work schedule across the next four years.
Ms Brooker said the project would consist of both site and unit refurbishment.
''Site refurbishment will be comprised of work on the physical structures and includes dam safety works, powerhouse strengthening, sluice pier/ tailrace bank remediation and other general works such as fencing.
''Unit refurbishment will focus on the generator system itself and includes unit 3 recommissioning, cleaning of units 1 and 2, unit and fire protection and intake screen replacement.''
Built in the 1930s, the power station is the oldest power station on the Waitaki hydro system.
The station, operated by Meridian Energy, consists of six 15 megawatt generating units, which generate enough electricity for 62,000 New Zealand homes each year, but Ms Brooker added the project would reinstate the site's seventh generation unit, which suffered a mechanical failure in 1998 and had not operated since.
